HIgh libido rooster!

[SallyBee]

Been reading here for years but new to posting.
I have one ameraucana cross rooster and 10 hens - ameraucanas, Easter eggers, Swedish flower hens, and 2 BCM. All except the marans are showing signs of being over-bred. Used to be just one of the EE’s, then I put a saddle on her, now the other EE is bald and 4 others getting close.
All hens and the roo are closing in on one year. No hens have shown damage past feather loss - the first one with the saddle now was getting red sores.
I have another coop with 6 older and slightly larger hens (not much but a bit bigger). I could see if they would teach him manners but that would not be the best roo to hen numbers. Late Spring I hope to combine both group and maybe that will also help. Not sure what to do. Should I let it be or separate him out which means creating another space I guess.
I also saw someone comment on hens with saddles not getting the benefit of their dust baths, so now I’m concerned about saddling the rest - should I be?
Thanks in advance for any views out there!

 

[sourland]

If he were mine, I would be tempted to try him with the older hens and let the flock of ten have a break/rest from him.

 

[McChooky]

Been reading here for years but new to posting.
I have one ameraucana cross rooster and 10 hens - ameraucanas, Easter eggers, Swedish flower hens, and 2 BCM. All except the marans are showing signs of being over-bred. Used to be just one of the EE’s, then I put a saddle on her, now the other EE is bald and 4 others getting close.
All hens and the roo are closing in on one year. No hens have shown damage past feather loss - the first one with the saddle now was getting red sores.
I have another coop with 6 older and slightly larger hens (not much but a bit bigger). I could see if they would teach him manners but that would not be the best roo to hen numbers. Late Spring I hope to combine both group and maybe that will also help. Not sure what to do. Should I let it be or separate him out which means creating another space I guess.
I also saw someone comment on hens with saddles not getting the benefit of their dust baths, so now I’m concerned about saddling the rest - should I be?
Thanks in advance for any views out there!

I've got 1 rooster over mating his hens so I've removed all but 5 of the hens . I'll probably have to put him in a pen all by himself to keep any feathers on their backs because he gets bored easily. My other rooster is a gentleman and doesn't push himself on the hens. Neither of my roosters are aggressive so I don't want to get rid of the other guy but I'll probably build him a pen this summer and just keep him as a spare. Keeping your hens contained can lead to them picking on by the rooster if they can't run and escape

 

[SallyBee]

I've got 1 rooster over mating his hens so I've removed all but 5 of the hens . I'll probably have to put him in a pen all by himself to keep any feathers on their backs because he gets bored easily. My other rooster is a gentleman and doesn't push himself on the hens. Neither of my roosters are aggressive so I don't want to get rid of the other guy but I'll probably build him a pen this summer and just keep him as a spare. Keeping your hens contained can lead to them picking on by the rooster if they can't run and escape

Thanks. I think I will try him with the older hens but definitely remove him from the others right away. They have a large screened area and now are out on a large area to roam. Unfortunately because we are surrounded by woods and an abundance of coyote and fox I can’t let them free range completely or I’d have none! I had hoped getting out would help (they don’t get out as much in winter) but hasn’t that I can tell.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I could see if they would teach him manners but that would not be the best roo to hen numbers.

I'm thinking of one specific poster on here that had a few free ranging flocks that consisted of one rooster and usually three hens. He thought that was a great ratio. He had no problems with barebacked hens and he had roosters that helped a hen raise her chicks a lot. Dad kept a free ranging flock that had one rooster and between 25 and 30 hens. Practically all of the eggs were fertile. That rooster did not help individual broody hens with their chicks though.

You keep reading about ideal ratios and other numbers on here as though they were a law of nature. Real life doesn't work that way. You can have barebacked hens even with 20 or more hens in the flock with one rooster. You can have infertile eggs and no barebacked hens even with very few hens. You can have problems no matter the ratio. Don't let a fear of ratios stop you from doing what you need to do. Just pay attention and monitor the situation.

How sure are you that the feather loss is due to mating? Have you checked them for mites and lice. Sometimes those can cause a problem. If you could post a photo of the feather loss it might help determine what is or might be going on.

You mention coyotes so you are in the northern hemisphere. That means they are not going through their annual fall molt. But sometimes chickens molt out of season. Did something happen that might make them think the days are getting shorter. Did you turn off a light recently. It could be a security light or streetlight where the bulb burned out.

Have they undergone stress? This could be a change in housing, a predator attack (real or perceived), or going without water for a couple of days? Sometimes this can cause a molt or partial molt.

It's spring and hormones are flowing. That cockerel could be a lot more active than he was a few weeks or months ago. It could be him.

When you integrate the younger girls with the older hens you might have no issues whatsoever or they may take a while. As long as no one is getting hurt I don't worry about that. It's just something to be on the lookout about.

I don't fully understand your set-up and what coops and runs you have. My suggestion is to try to integrate them all and see what happens. Don't worry about ratios. It may solve your problems and it may not.

Good luck!

 

[SallyBee]

This is really helpful information - thank you! I’m nearly certain it’s not moult. Too many hens, all feather loss in the same spots back and shoulders - and very few feathers around the coop. At least sure doesn’t seem like moults I’ve witnessed before.
The 2 coop situation is just because I got caught building a new one and with young hens not yet integrated with old ones and so they stayed that way for winter. Now that its warming up I will have enough outdoor space for all and will move them together. Hoping that will aid the situation somewhat.
I appreciate what you said about not stressing the numbers/ratios. And the hens are all fine and laying. I just don’t want anymore to get sores.
Thanks again.